Pretoria Centre of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
Observing Section
The Centre has started an Observing Section, led by Percy Jacobs.
Member submissions
Images of the Mars-Moon occultation of 3 January 2023
- Barbara Cunow imaged the progression of Mars during the occultation
- Collage by Johan Moolman
- Another collage by Johan Moolman
- Finally, a video by Neville Young recording the approach of Mars to the Moon
Images by various members
- Bosman Olivier gave a talk: "Remote Controlled Telescopes - Smart Astronomy" at the Centre's virtual meeting on 27 January 2021
- Johan Smit submitted an interesting video - you can see the earth moving against a stationary sky! Click to view the video
- Danie Barnardo took this image of the Moon on 1 June 2020
- Danie Barnardo recorded this Moon image featuring Palus Somni and Proclus Crater on 9 January 2022
- Dawie Venter captured this fantastic image of Comet Leonard on 1 January 2022
Contributions by Barbara Cunow
- Alpha and Proxima Centauri 2016 to 2020 - Alpha Centauri is the big star at the top left and Proxima Centauri is at the bottom right of the image Alpha and Proxima Centauri
- 40 years of Saturn observations on 2 November 2020 - her first observation was on 1 November 1980. The image records her observations over the years - up to 2016 with drawings and since then via webcam at the eyepiece Saturn 1980 - 2020
- A composite image of observations between 15 and 27 December 2020 of the Jupiter - Saturn conjunction Jupiter Saturn conjunction 2020
- Barbara captured this image of Comet Leonard in December 2021
- Barbara captured these images of Lacaille objects
- Barbara imaged Saturn on 27 September 2022, using only a webcam on her telescope - no tracking! Saturn
- Barbara sketched an image of Saturn on 3 October 1992 and imaged it on 3 October 2022 - 30 years apart - note the similar position of the rings Saturn
- Barbara imaged a number of galaxies while she was in Namibia during May galaxies
Contributions by Percy Jacobs
- Spectrum measurement of Comet Swan on 8 May 2020
- A view of Comet Swan on 30 April 2020
- A few variable star spectra
- Spectra of Alpha_Orionis (Betelgeuse) taken in January 2020 when Betelgeuse dimmed by about 40% since late 2019
- Details of a new solar telescope using an old 400mm camera lens and a solar prominence photographed with it
A few contributions by Johan Moolman. More of his images at Colours of Creation
- Images of the total Lunar eclipse of 16 May 2022
- Images of the Magificent 4 of our mid-winter evenings: Eagle, Swan, Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae
- Lunar X and V : Canon 5D4, Canon 600 mm f/4 lens with 1.4x t/c. Saturation boosted to reveal colour
- Eta Carina Nebula NGC 3372
- Last view of Comet Swan in May 2020
- Comet Swan in April 2020
- Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945 in Centaurus
- The Rosette Nebula and embedded Open Cluster NGC 2244 in Monoceros
- A Solar eclipse on 26 February 2017
- A sun filament on 20 January 2017
- Comparison of a "Supermoon" and a "Mini-Moon", 2016
- An image featuring the Southern Cross from our 2018 annual Karoo starparty
- The Vela Supernova Remnant and Surrounds - a Photographic Tour
- NGC 2467 "The Scull and Crossbones nebula"
- "The Crux area"
- "The North America nebula"
- "The Western Veil nebula"
- "Meteor and Andromeda"
- "Serenity vs. Chaos"
Observations by Neville Young
- Neville imaged Comet C2022/E3 ZTF in February 2023 - see image result at the following link: Comet C2022 E3 ZTF
- Neville imaged this video of Comet C2022/E3 ZTF - see video at the following link: Comet C2022 E3 ZTF
- Neville caught a Nova in Sagittarius - see image at the following link: Nova N Sagittarius 2020 No 3
- A composite image of observations between 15 and 21 December 2020 of the Jupiter - Saturn conjunction Jupiter Saturn conjunction 21 December 2020
- ASSA 100 number 21 (M41) Image Observation logsheet
Observing tools
- Interesting objects per constellation - with thanks to Johan Moolman
- Constellations per month - with thanks to Johan Moolman
- Presentation by Percy Jacobs
- How to read a Starchart for beginners
- ASSA Top 100 Catalogue
- New Observation log sheet
- New Guidelines for Observations
- Deepsky Companion by Auke Slotegraaf
- Limiting magnitude calculator (2Mb)
- Direction in eyepiece & Field of view (FOV) calculator
- Here is an interesting website by Auke Slotegraaf, dedicated to deep-sky observing
- Here are the links to 3 videos illustrating Kepler's 3 laws of motion: